This invention relates generally to the field of telephone systems. In particular, a system and method for improving the quality of life for telephone users by providing a real-time screening of a telephone call without the ringing of the telephone call.
In today""s modern society, telephones have become an ubiquitous part of daily life. Telephones, especially land-line telephones, provide a convenient and inexpensive method of reaching users at work and/or home.
However, a telephone may also become burdensome. For example, in a typical family of four with older children, a parent may answer multiple telephone calls a night without having a single telephone call directed to the parent. For the parent, this may become tiresome and aggravating, having to hear the ringing and answering of multiple telephone calls.
Moreover, if one of the members of the family is conducting a home-based business, there may be multiple telephone calls into the home during the time when the family is attempting to gather for a meal or to unite for a family activity. The interruption of the multiple telephone calls may distract and/or annoy the other members of the family.
To avoid the above-mentioned interruptions, several solutions have been commercially available to telephone users. First, a telephone answering device (xe2x80x9cTADxe2x80x9d) has been touted as a possible method to screen unwanted telephone calls. The TAD is a device that answers a telephone call after a certain number of rings and plays back an out-going message to inform the caller to leave a voice-message at the end of the out-going message. The TAD is configured to provide a memory to save the voice-message of the caller.
The TAD may be also used as a caller screen or filter. In general, telephone callers who are telemarketers or solicitors do not leave telephone messages upon hearing the outgoing-message of the TAD. Moreover, during the recording of the message, the call recipient may answer the telephone call and discontinue the message recording upon identification of the caller. Thus, the TAD may be used to filter or screen telephone calls.
However, TAD still does not resolve the problem of hearing the incoming multiple telephone calls. In order for the TAD to function as a call filter, the TAD must wait for the programmed number of rings before initiating operation. Thus, the call recipient or user is still interrupted or disturbed by the ringing of the incoming telephone call. Moreover, if the call recipient decides to answer a telephone call after screening the telephone call, the call recipient has to be near the TAD to discontinue the recording of the voice message. Accordingly, the TAD may not be an ideal remedy for the above-mentioned problems.
Another solution that has been offered to the above-mentioned problems is caller identification (xe2x80x9cIDxe2x80x9d). Caller ID is typically a service provided by user""s telephone company. With this service, a recipient may be provided with information such as the name, area code, telephone number, and address of the caller which is encoded and sent with the telephone call. To utilize this service, the recipient typically has a caller ID device interfaced with the recipient telephone line to decode the encoded caller ID information. During an incoming telephone call, the caller ID information is displayed on the caller ID device, thus, giving the recipient the choice to answer the incoming telephone call if the recipient recognizes the caller ID information.
Although caller ID may be an effective filter for screening incoming telephone calls, the recipient is still disturbed by the ringing of the telephone call. Moreover, the recipient has to be near the caller ID device to determine whether to answer the incoming telephone call.
Yet another solution that has been offered to the above-mentioned problems is call forwarding. Call forwarding is a method where an incoming telephone call to a first telephone number is redirected to a second telephone number. Call forwarding is usually initiated by the recipient of the first telephone number. With this technique, incoming telephone calls may be redirected to where the recipient is located.
However, call forwarding does not appear to offer any call filtering or screening capability. When a recipient initiates call forwarding, all the telephone calls directed to the original telephone number are sent to the new telephone number. The above-mentioned problems of hearing the ringing of incoming telephones and interruptions by incoming telephone calls are still present at the new telephone number.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a system for providing a stress-free environment where the system includes a telecommunication interface configured for receiving an incoming telephone call for a user and a portable notifier configured to interface with the telecommunication interface. The telecommunication interface is further configured to notify the user of said incoming telephone call on the portable notifier in response to the telecommunication interface intercepting the incoming telephone call prior to ringing of the incoming telephone call.
In accordance with another aspect of the principles of the present invention, an exemplary embodiment of a multimedia relay for transferring information is disclosed. The multimedia relay includes a wireless transceiver configured to interface with a telecommunication interface and at least one device interface configured to interface with a device. The multimedia relay also includes a controller configured to transfer information between the device and the telecommunication interface through the wireless transceiver.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the principles of the present invention, an exemplary method of providing a stress-free environment is disclosed. The method includes intercepting an incoming telephone call for a user prior to ringing of the incoming telephone call by a telecommunication interface and sending a notification message to the user through a wireless transceiver of the telecommunication interface. The method further includes indicating to the user of the incoming telephone in response to the notification message.